Sharing photos is a great way to bring family and friends together. There are many situations in the course of one's daily life where photo sharing can enrich relationships and create memories. There are many ways to share photos over the Internet. A relatively simple method is to send digital photo files as emails or email attachments to the intended recipients. In this method, photos are uploaded to an email server and recipients download the photos to their computer to view the photos. The photos are stored in the email servers, for example, without limitation, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, and Hotmail, and recipients can typically access the photos stored in the email servers via a link in the email sent by the sender. In some instances the photos are displayed within the body of the email.
Internet sites for sharing photos, such as, but not limited to, kodakgallery.com or flickr.com, are similar in concept to email hosting except that entire sites are dedicated to the hosting of photos. Typically, recipients contact photo hosting site servers via a link in an email sent by either the sender or the hosting site for the sender. These sites usually require recipients to register on their site before the photos can be accessed. If the recipient is already a registered user of the photo-sharing site, when the recipient logs in, a dialog box or web page typically appears which lists all of the photos or albums of photos that others have shared with the recipient in addition to the photos or albums that the recipient has shared with others.
Email and photo hosting sites only allow for one-way sharing. These methods do not enable multiple users to share photos in the same place. Using email, the users must each compose their own emails and send these emails to each other. The use of photo hosting sites does not allow recipients to add photos to the album for the sender to view. Instead, recipients must create separate albums on the hosting site in which to upload their photos.
Photos can also be shared in social networking sites such as, but not limited to, blog sites and club sites. With blog sites such as, but not limited to, myspace.com and blogspot.com, users are given spaces in servers of the blog sites for the uploading of files, which can be of various media, for example, without limitation, script, graphics, photos, videos, or other digital media. The contents of the space can usually be accessed by anyone and therefore are shared. However, there is little control over who can view files available through this form of sharing. Access to blog site space of a user can be restricted, for example, without limitation, as in facebook.com. However, those who can enter the space have the same level of access to all of the contents. Furthermore, blog sites are not versatile in sharing photos.
Club sites and group sites such as, but not limited to, Yahoo Groups are generally restricted to members. A group or club is given space in the hosting server for club sites. Members of the group or club can upload photos amongst other contents to the club or group space. Other members can view the photos by logging onto the group or club sites. Group or club sites usually have managers who can delete contents and authorize applications for membership. Typically, members of group or club sites have the same level of permission in regards to uploading photos or other contents to the club or group site. Club or group sites are not optimal for photo sharing as members who want to share photos with nonmembers cannot do so using the club or group site. Moreover, once the photos are uploaded to the group or club site, access of the photos cannot be selective as all members are able to access them.
Prior art also includes a method to allow uploaded files, described as loops, to be modified by contacts who have permission to access the files. According to this method a file is either modifiable or not modifiable. If the file is modifiable, this file may only be modified in specified ways. The specified method of modification is a property built into the file and is not contact specific. Any contact that accesses a modifiable file can modify the file. This method may enable contacts to modify the file against the wishes of the user who uploaded the file.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved method of sharing digital photos through the internet that enables multiple users to share photos in the same place, or album, and also enables users to control who may view and upload photos to this album.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.